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Are you a strategic planner?

Trout Bum

Trout Bum

Regional Rival
Albatross 2024 Club
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Do you plan your way around the course or do you just get up and whale away and hope for the best?

Does it help you or hurt you?

I was thinking about some recent comments on tv where guys are saying they want the shortest distance period into the greens at Pinehurst and was wondering if this is how you guys do it when you play?

I'm much more of a planner and always think par is best but reflecting back I've never been beat in a competition by a planner only the bombers, there may be something to it, it may be hurting me.
 
I'll admit I'm not much of a planner and I think it definitely hurts me. Sometimes I tell myself a plan and when I get on the course it goes out the window. Funny you brought this up because recently I was thinking of ways to lower my scores and course management / better strategy was first in my mind.
 
I've tried plannin, and didn't see an improvement on my score. I just go by feel.
 
Im a little bit of both. I plan my way (very carefully) around each hole, but do not think ahead or behind. I take chances only when they are there and play conservatively when they are not.
 
JB said:
Im a little bit of both. I plan my way (very carefully) around each hole, but do not think ahead or behind. I take chances only when they are there and play conservatively when they are not.
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I'm the same way, the risk has to be minimal for me to go for it but I think I lose strokes to those that take the risks lol Freddie!!!
 
Are you a strategic planner?

I usually whack away and just play it where it winds up. On my last round I had a distance where, in the fairway mind you, I said to myself "Dang, I don't really have a good shot here, I probably should have laid up by about twenty yards." Surprised that came out my mouth, at any other time I would have been happy just to be in the fairway. Does it mean my game is coming around? Not really score wise - yet - but I hope it is a portent of things to come.

I will never be a bomber, so I have no choice but to be a strategic planner.
 
Interesting you bring this question up now Trout. I am almost done reading Fearless Golf by Dr. Gio Valiante and it brings this up many times during the book, whether someone is an ego playing golfer or a course playing golfer. Long story short, In his studies with the professional golfer, the players that have done the best and have had the best careers are the course playing golfer; those that plot out their course before they play, study the holes from top to bottom and are never worried about the other players.

In the past I've been a grip it and rip it sort of player but over the last few years I've started plotting and thinking my way around the golf course. As a result, my handicap has dropped. I still get the tendency to grip and rip but I try and select the holes I want to do that on before hand.
 
I guess I am not a planner in that I don't sit there on the tee box and say "I want to be 140 yards in" or play to a distance on every hole. With that said, I do sit there before a shot and say, "What can I do here? What has the highest percentage for success? What gives me the best chance at par?" I've gotten much better about playing higher percentage shots and not trying to be a hero, and that has helped me immensely. So a little of both I guess.
 
Nate said:
Interesting you bring this question up now Trout. I am almost done reading Fearless Golf by Dr. Gio Valiante and it brings this up many times during the book, whether someone is an ego playing golfer or a course playing golfer. Long story short, In his studies with the professional golfer, the players that have done the best and have had the best careers are the course playing golfer; those that plot out their course before they play, study the holes from top to bottom and are never worried about the other players.

In the past I've been a grip it and rip it sort of player but over the last few years I've started plotting and thinking my way around the golf course. As a result, my handicap has dropped. I still get the tendency to grip and rip but I try and select the holes I want to do that on before hand.
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That's cool to hear, I need to get that book. How much do you think your handicap has gone down since you started thinking your way around the course?
 
Never used to, other than how much beer to put in the cooler ... now that I am trying to get better, I plan/set goals ... right now it is no penalty shots and to hit every fairway ... sounds simple, but I have to think what club best fits that objective and course I play a lot, what side of the fairway ...

Also given the distance, I may play two pitching wedges, instead over-swinging another club

I still suk, but I am getting better ... played nine yesterday, no penalty and hit all but one fairway ... nice!

Not sure if it is planing or not, but us helping a LOT!
 
Trout Bum said:
That's cool to hear, I need to get that book. How much do you think your handicap has gone down since you started thinking your way around the course?
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I've always been able to keep my handicap (before MC) around a 5 or 6 without much practice and maintaining. So over the last 1.5 years I've got it down to a 3. So almost cut it in half I would say. Might be a little combo of more practice/play with more smart play. I'm still trying to turn that switch on where I just play the course and not the other players.
 
My scores started dropping when I started strategizing. I quit trying to pull off shots that I wasn't comfortable with, and I quit pulling driver on every par 4 or 5. I started selecting my second shots on a par 5 based on where the pin was located and how far out I wanted to be on that third shot, and I only started trying to go for it if I knew for certain it was reachable with a smoothe swing and I didn't have to try and kill it.

Strategizing did wonders for my game, I know pros do the same thing which is the whole reason for the practice rounds and the numerous people that sometimes walk around with the golfer during those practice rounds. Its all about strategy.
 
If I had to categorize myself, I would say I'm a planner. I like to scout a tournament course, play a practice round, or study a yardage book and determine how best to approach each hole. Sometimes, it's all of the above. But, when actually playing, I really just try to analyze each shot as it presents itself.
 
Trout Bum said:
I think I lose strokes to those that take the risks lol Freddie!!!
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I think you may not be appreciating the times your planning beat the bombers who couldn't execute their higher risk shots.

To your question...I try to be a planner. When things go south and I get frustrated or if I'm not mentally sharp that day I can slip back to just banging away. I play much better when I can plan and execute.
 
I try to be a planner but some times the bomber in me wins out
 
For me planning is based on the course I'm playing. Some courses I can always go for it because there isn't much trouble getting to the green so I can get up and down or easily out of trouble. Other I plan on where not to miss. New courses that I really don't know I tend to plan based on how I'm hitting them
 
Im what you would refer to as a "ball whacker guy"
 
I am much more of a strategic thinker on the course than I was about 5 years ago. Aging and losing some distance has definitely contributed to my change is philosophy on navigating my way around the course. Now if I could get my execution to always match my plan, I would really be in business!
 
In my youth, I just "whaled away." Now with age and experience I try and plan my way around the course.
 
I don't plan ahead, but do think and play my way though the course. Playing to numbers and keeping my high confidence clubs in my hands as much as possible has dropped my scores significantly. I'm alway analyzing the hole I'm on, yardages to trouble, my miss, clubs I'm hitting well vs not etc.
 
Are you a strategic planner?

I'm no strategist but I hit it where I'll have the best access to the flag. I'm long enough to hit irons off the tee to set the table and gain position. That is really my only plan, good position off the tee.

Sometimes just bombing it works because it leaves scoring clubs in my hands.

What would you consider me trout?
 
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A couple years ago, I just stepped up and hit the ball. Try for a par 5 in 2, even if I had no chance? Yea go for it. Hit driver on ever par 4 or 5? Yes, why not?!?

End of last year, and so far this year, I have been planning more around the course. Wanting to know how each hole is shaped and playing to it. I only think of going for a "grip and rip" or the hero shot only when I know the risk is low. So far I've been playing better this year, so we will see how the rest of the year plays out.
 
I plan for my second shot off of the tee, assuming I am in the fairway. I like good yardages into greens, full clubs, even if that means laying back off the tee.
My second shot on par 5's are all dependent on distance - I go for it inside 235, lay up to about 100 yards if more than 235.
And I try to miss the green where there is less trouble, even if it means shooting for the front with a back pin, or the back with a front pin.
Guess that makes me a planner.
 
For me I am a short hitter so I really have to think my way around a course. I can hold my own around a short thinkers course but a bombers course I have a really hard time scoring.
 
I believe that I have transformed myself into a planner. As I learned more about the game and myself, I have taken to focusing on leaving myself a good next shot. I may hit an iron off the tee on a par 5 and then follow it up with a fairway wood to avoid trouble, whatever it takes. I have found that avoiding trouble is essential to consistent scores. I've also realized that playing away from trouble and playing to my comfort does two things, fewer blow ups and more birdies. Winner, winner!
 
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